Forwarding

The CEOs of DSV and Kuehne + Nagel, shrugging off heavily distorted year-over-year comparisons, described their second-quarter results as “solid” and reflective of the evolving normalization of the air and ocean markets.

Research by ECU Worldwide found that about half of ocean freight bookings are made via email, highlighting the importance of connecting booking platforms to email systems.

Sedna’s approach of allowing companies to retain their email systems while extending their value has won new forwarding and bulk customers and a fresh capital infusion.

A return to normal freight demand is part of the reason for layoffs across the logistics technology sector, but just as important is investor focus on cost controls and a path to profitability.

The expected declines followed a drop in demand for marine containers due to weakened economic and trade growth this year, both companies said in filings to the Hong Kong stock exchange.

A variety of technology providers are aiming to arm forwarders with AI-backed tools that help with areas like customer service and rate quoting, while others are focused on technology enabling internal operational efficiency.

Growing partnerships between software vendors and integrators with expertise in their solutions and their customers systems highlight the importance of the technological plumbing that underpins logistics networks.

ChatGPT made so-called generative AI more accessible to the general public, including logistics professionals, and some software vendors believe it will change how humans interact with core transportation systems.

Zim said the financial products are particularly needed amid a slowdown in freight demand as small and mid-sized businesses continue to battle significant financial friction.

Nuvocargo will use the new funding to expand its service footprint to all major over-the-road border crossings between the US and Mexico.

Chain.io CEO Brian Glick’s initial vision for the company centered around the idea of making logistics system connectivity open to all vendors to allow shippers and logistics companies to better utilize their software.

With most new trans-Pacific service contracts in effect only since late May, container lines are already nudging shippers to meet their minimum quantity commitments instead of taking advantage of spot rates that have been cratering for approximately three weeks, sources say.

Non-vessel-operating common carriers handle a growing percentage of US imports from Asia, but that hasn’t stopped traditional asset-owning companies from attempting to leverage core assets in a bid to differentiate themselves, writes Peter Tirschwell.

An emerging trend of sending smaller shipments more frequently is leading to growing demand for LCL services across the major trade lanes.

Price is once again on the side of shippers, with excess ocean capacity allowing them to extract lower rates from service providers.

Flexport has lured a key figure in the development of Uber Freight and Coyote Logistics in a move likely to shake up the domestic third-party logistics market.

With import volumes sharply lower than last year, trans-Pacific carriers are more willing to consider requests for fixed-rate pricing and inland transportation bookings in 2023-24 service contracts, sources say.

The growth in participation in FLOW is a signal that the private sector views the voluntary nature of the project as more amenable than governmental data-sharing mandates or legislation.

Bolloré said it will bring the carrier’s $5.5 billion offer to the rest of the group for consideration after an exclusivity period for negotiations expired Monday.

More than half of forwarders have migrated completely to cloud-based software, a study of 70 global logistics services providers has found.

Tethering purchase order technology to operations can help expedite drastic decisions, but pure software vendors offer a level of neutrality that logistics providers can’t.

Flexport expects both enterprise customers and small merchants to tap into the last-mile and fulfillment network it acquired with Shopify Logistics.

When it became apparent the carriers’ recent GRI had succeeded in bumping up spot rates by several hundred dollars, sources say customers moved to sign their contracts out of concern that rates would only go higher the longer they waited.

CEO Jens Bjørn Andersen couched the year-on-year downswing as all part of the normalization of cargo markets as they continue to reset from the heavily disrupted supply chains of the past two years.

A ‘book and claim’ solution from DSV allows the forwarder to scale up its decarbonization efforts by giving shippers greater access to low-carbon fuels used by transport operators.

The forwarder’s CFO said ocean freight demand in the second quarter was expected to be much the same as Q1, but there were signs that stockpiling by customers in major markets was nearing an end.

The scale of PSA International’s ambitions to expand its reach beyond its 60 container port terminals by leveraging the acquisition of a non-asset-based global logistics provider parallels Maersk’s own integrator ambitions.

Elevated US inventories and inflation in South America are weighing on freight demand at the same time container carriers are increasing capacity between the two regions, dragging down pricing.

Integration specialist Prompt Global has connected CargoWise with key visibility provider FourKites to save forwarders money and time aligning cargo milestones with transportation management.

The ocean carrier has its eyes on another multi-billion-dollar logistics prize as it continues to use its immense profitability to build out end-to-end solutions across its supply chains.

How successful ocean carriers are in securing general rate increases comes down to the health of so-called green shoots of demand and the effectiveness of increased blanking of capacity.

Historic highs in global freight volumes and rates in the first half of last year helped insulate third-party logistics providers (3PLs) from a market collapse in the second half.

Despite being prepared for divestiture, the performance of global forwarder DB Schenker is the only reason Deutsche Bahn group is profitable at present.

US big-box retailers are receiving fewer imports while inventories remain elevated and US consumer confidence teeters, boding poorly for a significant second-half rebound in Asia container imports, writes JOC Executive Mark Szakonyi.

Forwarders that experimented with new software during the days of robust freight demand now face a dilemma over what technology produces actual returns on investment as volumes and margin shrink.

German unions demanding inflation-busting wage increases walked off the job Monday, bringing the country’s transport system to a halt.

Widely used forwarding software provider WiseTech Global will pursue further US landside logistics technology targets in 2023, its CEO says.

Freight rate booking marketplace Freightos said its unprofitable business is seeing improving margins and that scale will help it past the breakeven point.

Despite the lack of industry-wide emissions measurement, shippers are pressing ahead with their own sustainability programs and working with supply chain emissions data that is available, TPM23 attendees were told.

Official data shows overall volumes on the China-Europe rail network rose 6 percent last year over the then-record throughput handled in 2021, but there is no distinction between cargo destined for Europe or Russia.